Dog Days Are Over
by Sookie's Secret Santa
Summary: To: Sam Merlotte. From: Secret Santa. Sookie comes to work one day when she really needed to take a day off. Can Sam be the best friend she knows him as or does she need more from him? Set after Dead Reckoning. Promo for fic exchange.
1. Chapter 1

**Dog Days are Over**

To: Sam Merlotte

From: Secret Santa.

Summary: Sookie comes to work one day when she really needed to take a day off. Can Sam be the best friend she knows him as or does she need more from him? Set after Dead Reckoning.

~v~

Sam smiled as the door opened and Sookie walked in, but it soon turned to a frown of concern when he saw her puffy eyes and red nose. She looked distraught. He ran out from behind the bar and pulled her into his arms, guiding her back toward his office. Once they were inside he sat her on the comfiest chair and knelt in front of her.

"You shouldn't be here in this state, Chere, what happened?"

Sookie's heart broke all over again. They had tried everything, bargaining, searching for loopholes. Eric had hired a couple of different lawyers in addition to Mr. Cataliades to fight his corner. But in the end it was no use. She still took him.

"It didn't work. We fought so hard but ... her guards came for him last night. Freyda took Eric, Sam; she got him in the end. She won."

"Oh Chere!" He leaned in and held Sookie tight. "She might _think_ she won but Eric doesn't want her, he wants you. She fought tooth and nail to get his body – but _you_ have his heart. She'll never take that away from you."

Sookie nodded but a fresh bout of crying distorted her pretty face. "What am I gonna do Sam? I miss him so much but now there's no-one to stop De Castro from taking me away to Nevada. They'll probably come for me tonight. I don't wanna go Sam."

Sam pulled her onto his lap and stroked her hair as she cried. He loved Sookie, he always had. The thought of her being taken away from him, from her brother, from her _home_ ... there had to be something he could do.

"We'll work something out Chere. I'm gonna take you home; make you some chicken soup and phone round some folks. They won't take you without a fight."

He felt her nod absently against his chest as he picked her up and left the bar and headed to his truck. As he placed her gently in the passenger seat, he heard growling and closed his eyes in annoyance.

"Jannalynn, what's up?"

"What are you doing with her?"

"I'm helping my friend, Janna, do you have a problem with me helping Sookie?"

"She seems to need your help a hell of a lot these days."

Sam sighed and shook his head. "She's been through hell these last few weeks and in the end the thing she was fighting to stop happened anyway. She needs a friend, Janna, and I'm the only one who's offering."

"And what else are you offering her Sam?" Jannalynn's fists clenched and unclenched at her sides.

"You know what Janna, it doesn't matter what I'm offering Sookie. It's no longer your concern. We're done, it was fun but this jealous, possessive streak has gone too far this time."

"You're breaking up with me ... for _her_?"

"No, I'm breaking up with you for _me_. I can't take this anymore. Right now I have a friend in need, if you want to talk about this or try to work something out ... call me when you're not ready to hit something."

Sam ran around and jumped in his truck before Jannalynn could say another word. He sped out of the parking lot in a cloud of dust and pushed his vehicle as hard as the speed limit would let him along Hummingbird Road. Sookie had calmed down by the time he pulled up outside her house, and was able to walk to the back door and unlock it.

"Is your Uncle not home?"

She shook her head. "No, when everything fell through and the Vampires came he made himself scarce. There was no way he could have taken all of them, and I doubt he'd be able to do much for me when De Castro comes either."

Sam nodded, for Sookie to be protected they would need a lot more than a True born shifter and a half fairy. They would need an army ... and they would need to use a lot of tricks to play the Vampires at their own game. Sam would need to reveal a lot more of himself than he ever intended to.

The only soup Sam could find was a can of Campbell's Tomato, he made it anyway, along with a cup of weak coffee. The last thing Sookie needed was to be hopped up on caffeine. She needed to be clear on everything. Once she had eaten and had showered and changed into comfortable clothes, she sat on the sofa with Sam.

"He's lost to me now, isn't he? I might as well go with De Castro."

"Now, now, Sookie. That ain't your style, giving up? The Sookie I know wouldn't give up and leave her home and friends and family. I'm gonna make some calls, you try to relax."

Sookie snorted and flicked the TV on, trying to zone out with Jeopardy. She tried to block out the heated tone of Sam's voice and didn't want to think who he might be arguing with. When Sam came back into the living room, Sookie had cried herself to sleep on the sofa. He looked at his watch, there was still plenty of time until the Vampires arrived, but he'd have to work fast to do what he had to do before Alcide or Quinn got there. He smiled at Sookie's sleeping form, all these years she had never suspected anything. She took him at his word – a True Born Shifter and he played the role.

She never asked how he knew so much, the 'vast shifter library' excuse had been genius on Sam's part, but it was time for the truth. It was time for her to know who he really was. He gently shook her awake, murmuring her name.

"Sam? What is it? Are they here already?"

"No, Chere, but we need to get ready. There are ... things we need to prepare."

"You're not planning on fighting them Sam? I couldn't lose you too, please tell me you won't fight."

His mind was quick as a whip. "I have to fight Sookie, for you, for us. If only we could have had the chance to find out what we would be losing."

Her eyes widened as Sam leaned toward her, she could have stopped him. But she didn't. She let him kiss her. In Sookie's head, it wasn't cheating on Eric. He was lost to her now and she needed the physical comfort that Sam was offering. She shouldn't need it, not so soon, but she did.

Sam found his influence worked more easily than he suspected. Her grief and hopelessness had made her vulnerable to it. He deepened the kiss, his tongue urging Sookie's lips to open to him. It was almost frantic, the way she clung to him, her hands gripping tightly to his shoulders, her legs winding around his waist. Sam wanted to wait, to slow things down, to take his time with her like he knew she deserved. But that would have to wait until later. He didn't want to pause his actions, because stopping, even for a second, might break the spell.

Sookie found herself swept away on Sam's passion, too weary and lonely to resist. She passively allowed him to undress her and carry her to her bedroom. After everything, she just wanted to be loved. And he did.

He loved her with everything that his mouth, hands and manhood could offer and she returned it with gusto. The rough skin of his hard-worked hands created the tiniest amount of pain against her sensitive nipples and her swollen clitoris. When he entered her, she sighed in satisfaction as Sam growled in triumph. They moved against each other as the late afternoon sun shone through her bedroom window. Her climax was choked with sadness but just as effective at pulling Sam's orgasm from him. He panted and clung to her. It was done, she was his.

As the pounding of the front door resonated around the house, he was overcome with relief. He'd completed the act with barely any time to spare. Sookie frowned and quickly threw on a long Tweety Bird nightshirt and her pink robe. When she got to the door she was surprised to find Calvin Norris and a few of his extended family.

"Hi, Calvin, what can I do for you?"

"Sam called, said you might be leaving us tonight. Not of your own free will. You've been there for me a few times, finding out who shot me and such, so we're here for you." He raised his head and scented the air. "You and Sam ... he's a fine man, Sookie."

Her face reddened as she ushered her visitors inside and offered them refreshments. Sam and Calvin nodded to each other when he entered the kitchen. Sookie glared at Sam before grabbing his arm and pulling him into the living room.

"You _knew_ they were coming over. You _knew _they would smell ... what we did."

"Calm down Sookie. Yes, I knew, but please wait until we're alone before you ball me out about it. There's more planning to get done."

Sookie stood with her mouth gaping as Sam gently kissed her cheek and walked back into the kitchen. There was another knock at the door and Sookie frowned as she walked over to answer it. She was shocked to find Alcide and most of the Longtooth pack, but what shocked her even more was his reaction to the Motorbike currently speeding toward her house.

Alcide let out a fearsome growl as Quinn stepped from the iron horse and removed his helmet. They stomped toward one another, the air shimmering as both teetered on the edge of shifting.

"Stop!" Sookie shouted. "Don't fight! Please, not here, not now." They both turned toward her.

"You don't understand Sookie." Alcide took a step toward the telepath, but was stopped by Quinn putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Babe, you loved me once. Don't cheapen it with a wolf."

"What the hell are you talking about Quinn?" Sookie's stress levels hit an all time high as she looked at the last of the Sun's rays disappear over the horizon.

Alcide rubbed at his forehead. "Sookie, to be protected – you need to be claimed. I'm Pack master of the largest group of Werewolves in Louisiana – I have the power to keep you safe. But only if you let me claim you."

"I could tear you apart with one paw behind my back, Wolf!"

"You and who else Quinn? Who do you have at _your_ back? Oh, that's right – the very same Vampires who want to take her away from her home!"

Sookie was scared, confused and starting to get angry at the pissing contest going on in her driveway. Sam came to her side and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair and whispering soothing words in her ear before letting her go and facing Alcide and Quinn.

"Sookie has already been claimed, come and have a smell if you don't believe me."

Sookie gasped out her offense before slapping Sam across the face. "Sam Merlotte! That's just an awful thing to say!"

Sam grabbed her wrist before she could storm off. "Chere, this is important."

His attention was diverted by the Vampires swarming out from the trees that surrounded the graveyard. Sookie shuffled behind him as they converged around her property and whimpered as they threw Bill Compton to the ground ten feet from her front door. He was bound with silver chains and being held by two unfamiliar Vampires wearing heavy gloves.

"I see you've been busy, Mr. Merlotte." Felipe De Castro stepped closer to the house. "But do you think a small group of Weres and Shifters will prevent me from taking what is mine? And fucking her ... that was just stupid."

Sam closed his eyes and Sookie stepped away from him. She could feel the power rolling from him, raw and feral, as he howled into the night. The Vampires moved, forming a circle as they stared into the woods. Animals of every shape and breed came from the trees, all of them howling, growling and calling out in their own way.

Sookie heard the gloopy noise of Sam shifting and backed away further, expecting a bear or maybe a lion again. Her shock was matched by everyone else's when Sam was finished changing. A tall man, with thick black wavy hair and broad shoulders stood before her.

"Bow before your God." His voice was heavily accented and Sookie thought it was reminiscent of Thalia's. "Bow before Proteus, first of the Shape shifters, Father to you all."

The howling increased as all of Sookie's visitors transformed before her and joined the chorus. There must have been hundreds of them, but before she had the chance to question how on earth they got to her house so fast in such numbers, they attacked as one. Leaping on the group of Vampires as Sam ... or Proteus looked on smiling.

"I could have stayed as Sam forever, he was ... honourable. But ... you understand why I had to hide my true self from you."

"Is there even a _real_ Sam Merlotte?" Sookie backed further into the house, away from the carnage going on in her yard.

"There was ... he was killed around ten years ago. I assumed his form and tried to live out his simple life, as I've been doing for Millennia. But you, Sookie, you made a simple life impossible."

"So, I've been waitressing for a God all these years?"

Proteus laughed and turned away from the battle that was winding down outside. "Yes. And, now, you have been claimed by a God. Sookie Stackhouse, you are mine."

Sookie rolled her eyes, even a God couldn't get it through his thick skull that she was, is and will always be her own woman.

**_A/N: Another Promo story for www . fanfiction . net /~sookiessecretsanta Festive fic exchange! All of the details of how to throw your name in our hat with the other 21 writers so far are on our profile. Remember to add us to your author alerts to make sure you don't miss any of the great gift fics coming in the week leading up to Christmas!_**


	2. Chapter 2

As a special offer - we're willing to let the 42nd writer to throw their name into our Secret Santa hat choose who they will be Secret Santa for! At the moment we have 40 writers taking part - so get your email off to sookies. secret . santa (at) gmail . com (remove spaces) quick so you don't miss out!

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